Tossing Salt Presents:
Wrestling Fact or Fiction
June 4, 2017

Welcome to my nightmare! Wait, that’s the wrong intro. I’m listening to Alice Cooper right now as I write this, getting myself psyched up for his upcoming new album and all sorts of “Coop” references are going through my head right now. I guess I should clear them out now though and focus more on the talk of the walk, the reason we all spend Monday nights at home, professional wrestling. Are you ready for some “Fact or Fiction”? As per the usual, the statements come from my long time close personal friends that I’ve never met, but have read for years at 411mania.com/wrestling. And also as per usual, the answers are from me. Are you ready to do this cause I most definitely am. So…

1. Finn Balor will win the #1 contender’s match at Extreme Rules.

FICTION: I think that down the road a bit, we will see Balor back in contention for the Universal Championship and quite possibly in a program with Brock Lesnar. It has to happen, especially with all the praise given Balor by Paul Heyman last week. But I think that we’ve got Finn versus Wyatt fight to see first as “The Demon” meets the “Eater of Worlds”. That has to happen and be taken care of before either Finn or Bray are back in the title hunt. As for the match at Extreme Rules, look for Samoa Joe to take home that win.

2. You disagree with Road Warrior Animal, the Dudley Boyz are a legendary tag team.

FICTION: The Dudley Boyz are one of the top tag teams of the past twenty years to be sure, but legendary? I just don’t see it. Yes, they’ve had the titles and worked some big moments, but when placed up next to teams like The Midnight Express, The Rock & Roll Express, The Anderson Brothers, Tully and Arn, and yes, the Road Warriors, they just falter in comparison in my eyes. Animal knows tag team wrestling and what it takes to be a legendary team and if he says that Bubba and Devon don’t qualify, who am I to argue?

3. Pete Dunne may be the breakout star of the WWE UK project, but if brought onto the main roster, you have no faith is WWE properly booking him.

FACT: As good as this man is, once he eventually comes to the main roster, he’ll just get lost in the shuffle and be part of the crowd. WWE just doesn’t have a great track record with new talent and using them correctly once they are brought up. Dunne is a special talent and not just another talent. WWE Creative need to realize this and use him accordingly or otherwise, we’ll just have another Sin Cara on our hands.

4. Cody Rhodes is a bigger star now than he was while with WWE.

FICTION: Cody may be having more fun and freedom now and getting the opportunities to work against more of a variety of opponents, but a bigger star now? Without the TV and power of the WWE behind him, he’s just a “former talent” and barely a blip on the radar. This is a great way to develop his skills and become a better performer overall, but without the push and power of the Land of Titan behind him, he’s not where he was by a long shot.

5. Bayley will defeat Alexa Bliss to regain the WWE Raw Women’s Title at Extreme Rules.

FICTION: Alexa is on fire right now and can do no wrong. Bayley has quickly lost any momentum she had going for her and looks weak and sad. Everytime they have a confrontation, Alexa gets the best of Bayley and lays her out and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. WWE needs to reboot Bayley and do something to freshen up her character. They also need to keep the title on Alexa and let her keep growing and shine. Alexa should and will keep her title.

6. You are not surprised that WWE 205 Live is doing poor numbers on the WWE Network.

FACT: It was supposed to be something special to give the Cruiserweights a chance to shine and have the spotlight, but it seems more of an after thought most weeks than a show that anyone has given any special or strong attention. Part of it is the timing since the fans have just finished watching Smackdown Live and are not ready to sit through another hour of action. And there is rarely anything going on that counts as “must see” television. It’s just another show with some ‘eh matches taking up our time. I’d love to see the show get revamped and actually be successful. There are some really good talents in the Cruiserweight division and they have some good matches. It’s just that there isn’t any real reason to want to tune in. It’s a shame really.

And that’s it for today. Thank you for reading. Tonight is the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view, exclusively on the Network. Looks like it should be a solid show so don’t miss that. Comments and thoughts are welcome. And now, I’m gone. I’ll catch you on the flip side.

Ubuntu.